Slow-Rise Sourdough Sandwich Rolls

Soft and fluffy, these slow-rise sourdough sandwich rolls are sure to be a favorite in your family!

Before you make and eat…

Before you get your panties in a wad – yes, I know these sandwich rolls aren’t technically gluten-free. No need to yell at me and tell me that. If you’re looking for a sandwich roll recipe that doesn’t contain any wheat flour, just head on over to google and find you a different recipe.

If you’re interested in finding out why I sometimes do indulge in homemade, slow-rise sourdough even though I have celiac, you can go read all about that in my sourdough challah recipe. And if you want to learn how to make sourdough with gluten-free flours, check out my gluten-free garlic and herb sourdough crackers. They’re safe for everyone!

Slow-Rise Sourdough Sandwich Rolls

These little rolls are a family favorite. We use them for everything from lentil sloppy joes to philly cheeseteak sandwiches (maybe someday I’ll post that recipe) and even just eat them with butter. With only four ingredients, they’re super simple to make!

Sourdough starter. For all true sourdough recipes you need a little bit of sourdough starter. (How to make it is down below.) There’s no need for any yeast or baking soda or powder, but you will need to let your dough rise for 7-12 hours to get the best rise.

Liquid. I usually just use water for my slow-rise sourdough sandwich rolls. If you want to get fancy you can use whey, buttermilk, or regular milk too. With dairy products the end texture will be a little chewier, just fyi.

Butter. You do not have to use butter here, if you need this to be dairy-free. You can use melted and cooled coconut oil, olive oil, or avocado oil. It doesn’t really matter. I just like the taste of butter!

Flour. I always use Azure Standard’s organic bread flour for my sourdough. Way back when, I used to grind wheat berries fresh. But that really irritated my lungs so I stopped. If you want to use freshly ground flour, you can definitely do that. You will need to use a little more flour than written in the recipe, though, since freshly milled flour isn’t compacted like pre-ground.

If you don’t use Azure Standard, you can just get Arrowhead Mills or King Arthur organic wheat flour and they will work fine. Just make sure you use unbleached and unbrominated flour.

How to make a sourdough starter.

Making your own sourdough starter is very simple. To begin, stir equal parts wheat flour and filtered water together in a pint-sized wide-mouth jar or a glass/ceramic bowl. I start my starter off with 1/4 cup of each flour and water. Mix it well, scrape the sides down, cover it with a towel, and set it on the counter out of direct sunlight.

For the next 3 days, every 12 hours, feed the starter the same ratio amounts of flour and water. It will get bubbly and start to smell sour. After the first two feedings, you can dump half the starter into another jar and feed that as well. Or you can throw that half away. Just depends how much starter you want to end up with.

After the first 3 days of feeding your starter every 12 hours, you can just feed it once a day. After 4-5 more days it will be ready to use. (It will be ready faster if your house is on the warmer/humid side.)

For the rest of forever, feed your sourdough starter once a day to keep it growing, and make sure you use it at least twice a week. If you’re not planning on using it a lot, stick it in the fridge. Just take it out in time to feed it once and let it get bubbly before you use it.

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